With summer vacation just around the corner, droves of college
students will be vying for coveted internships at a variety of
businesses throughout the U.S. While the thought of cheap or free
temporary labor can be appealing, programs that are designed to
simply substitute your traditional workforce with low and non-paid
workers can become very problematic for employers.
Recently there have been several high-profile cases where
individuals classified as interns have brought claims alleging that
they were improperly paid and the U.S> Department of Labor and
plaintiff attorneys have been aggressively pursuing cases where
employees are improperly treated as exempt interns.
In Fox Searchlight Pictures v. Glatt, the Southern District of
New York ruled that unpaid interns working on the production of the
movie, Black Swan, were in fact employees, and should have received
at least the minimum wage for their work. Other high-profile cases
brought by, or on behalf of
